Category Archives: ARGENTINA

Juan Veron was a bust. Carlos Tevez can’t sign because no one knows who ‘owns’ him and now Gabriel Heinze is suing his own team.

Argentinians on Manchester United?? No Bueno!

Sir Alex Ferguson has another interesting dilemma to deal with. Gabriel Heinze wants to go to Liverpool but Ferguson won’t allow it. It’s not that he doesn’t want to sell the oft injured defender–it’s just that he doesn’t want him to go to Anfield. In fact, The Red Devils haven’t sold a player to their northwest rivals in over 40 years.

According to soccernet.com, Liverpool has already met the asking price so Heinze hired a bunch of lawyers to argue whether United has a right to block the transfer.

To me, this sounds like a very open and shut case. Manchester United have a right to sell a player to whoever they want to. If they don’t want him going to Liverpool, they don’t have to shop there. Sorry Gabby.

The only thing clear in all this is that Mr. Heinze will never play in a Red Devil shirt again.

It was an ugly end to a to a game that very nearly spiraled out of control. Two Chilean players were red carded and the match’s officials had to be escorted off the field to avoid Chile’s furious players and supporters.

Was this the same Brazilian team that lost to Mexico in their opening Copa America game?

Was this the same Argentinian squad that had mopped up every opponent they’d faced on their way to this tournament’s final?

The bottom line is you can never count out the Samba Boys and they shocked the soccer world this afternoon by ripping apart Copa odds-on favorites Argentina 3-0.

No Ronaldo, Kaka, Ronaldinho or Adriano? So what. Though they didn’t play with the same ‘joga bonito’ they’re famously known for, it was enough for Dunga’s 11, who improved in each of their Copa America games, to defend their title and stymie the flat, unfocused, and arguably overconfident Argies.

Julio Baptista set the stage early when he absolutely crushed a ball from the top of the penalty area into the back of the net in the 5th minute. 35 minutes later, Argentine Roberto Ayala deflected a Brazillian cross into his own goal. Before you knew it, the game was practically over by halftime.

And if there were any doubts about who was going to win this one, Daniel Alves scored in the 69th, which all but secured Brazil’s 8th Copa America title.

I think we all kinda knew from day 1 of the Copa America that we’d see Brazil and Argentina duke it out again in the finals. And if you put some dinero on that happening, you’re a winner.

First, let’s talk about the fiasco that was the Brazil/Uruguay penalty kick ending. Does Copa America have a new rule where the goaltender can leave the goal line before the penalty taker touches the ball? It looked a little like the old NASL shootouts…remember those? The MLS tried that in their early years too–thank God they got rid of it.

Uruguay did a nice job to tie the game in the 70th minute when Sebastian Abreu slid across the goal line to tap in a headed cross. But when it came down to tapping in penalties (The Copa apparently thinks playing extra time is a waste of time) the Uruguayans choked, specifically midfielder Pablo Garcia, who’s penalty kick–which would have to put them through to the finals–clanked off the post.

He knew he royally screwed up–so much so that it appeared that he gave himself a wedgie when he turned to face his disappointed teammates. You’ll know what I’m talking about when you watch the highlights below.

Not surprisingly, Brazil made their next try and Uruguay didn’t. Game Samba kings.

Here are the penalty kick highlights–in Vietnamese!!

As for Argentina/Mexico, I went on record the other day and said that this was going to be the game of the tournament. I was wrong. The Argies beat the Mexicans like a candy stuffed pinata 3-0. Mexico actually wasn’t that horrible despite the final score. It’s just that Argentina is THAT good.

The South Americans’ first two goals were absolute classics, especially Lionel Messi’s cheeky chip shot in the 61st minute over Oswaldo Sanchez–pure brilliance. I don’t get the pleasure of seeing him play in Barcelona on a regular basis (sorry, I live in the U.S. and we prefer poker tournaments to world class soccer-besides, that’s what Beckham’s here for) but I’m beginning to understand why they’re calling him “the next Maradona”–and he just turned 20, which is scary.

It truly wasn’t the most competitive quarterfinal this weekend at the Copa America.

On Saturday, Brazil blew out Chile 6-1 and Uruguay finished off Venezuela 4-1.

As for Brazil, it’s pretty safe to say that Coach Dunga has whipped his side back into shape after their shock loss to Mexico in their opening match. And what can you say about Robhino other than…wow! He’s about as hot as the beach sand in Sao Paulo right now with 6 goals, the most in the tournament.

I’m really looking forward to Wednesday’s Argentina v. Mexico semifinal as I think it’ll be the best game of the tournament. Does Mexico have a chance? Of course they do. This is their chance to prove to everyone that their victory over Brazil wasn’t a fluke. Besides, Argentina hasn’t really played anyone of quality yet.

However, as much as I’d like to see the Mexicans win, I still can’t see the South Americans, who just seem to improve with every game, losing. Does anyone??

As a U.S. Soccer supporter, I’m VERY glad this Copa America experience is over because it sure was painful.

Yes, there were moments where our “inexperienced internationals” looked cohesive, competitive and even, at times, dominating. But when it came to putting the ball in the back of the net, we were nothing short of pathetic.

Seriously, the team needs a striker coach! Every time one of our guys got within 15 feet of the opposing net, they’d either miss completely or send meekly hit dribblers right at the goal keepers. It’s so frustrating to watch. Not to pick on Eddie Johnson but he can have all the speed in the world, but if he doesn’t get anything on net, he might as well pursue a career in track and field.

Anyways, enough with the ranting. Here are the highlights to the Colombia game and a pretty good Argentina/Paraguay match.